Over-hyped, under-studied — and once a day

Most people, when deciding on what immune-boosting, inflammation-fighting, vitality-enhancing “anti-aging” supplements to take, don’t do what I just spent the last year doing. They don’t attend medical conferences or decode scores of research articles in peer-reviewed journals. They don’t fly around the country interviewing scientists. They don’t take college-level nutrition classes or sit through lectures by internationally acclaimed herbalists.

I did all this because I was researching and writing a book. I didn’t do any of this when (in my pre-book life) I was deciding what supplements I should take.

Most people (like me pre-book) hear about the newest, best, most powerful something from a friend, or an upbeat tidbit in a health and fitness mag or (‘fess up) in a 3 am infomercial. They Google this newest, best, most powerful something…and thus enter the over-hyped, underregulated land of marketeers who have positioned themselves to cash in on our aging angst. Here you read all about the “synergistic vitality products” and “novel formations of anti-aging essentials” that include a dazzling array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, seeds, berries, flowers, fruits, herbs, mushrooms – not to mention Spanish moss and an extract from “young, clean Scotch pine cones harvested from Wisconsin forests.”

These products all promise vitality and robust health. They promise to turn back the clock. Some of the ingredients in the products have good science behind them. Some have made cages full of rats very happy. Some have proven their worth in Petri dishes. Some are wishful thinking. You would not know the difference based on the claims.

There is an alternate universe that exists along side the internet. (I call it reality.) It is where credible, careful, conscientious researchers are hard at work delving into the mysteries and complexities of how we age and how we might exert some control over that process. Why not use that research to make decisions about supplements rather than falling for – like I used to fall for – those enticing, too good to be true internet claims.

A site I use to educate myself about this wild wild west of supplements, to get links to the latest research and check the latest claims is the Linus Pauling Micronutrient Information Center. It is a no-nonsense compendium, written in understandable language that, like the man after whom it was named, is not afraid to scout the frontier while hewing to the best in scientific inquiry.

Many over-hyped, under-studied supplements are just useless and a waste of money. Occasionally one will be dangerous and a waste of money. Some might work and are worth a try. And some really do work. It is a caveat emptor world out there. And we are the emptors. Time to get smart about it.